I think I'll go out myself. I want to look
around a little."
"I'll go with you," said Ned. "As long as we haven't seen any
sharks I don't mind."
"Nor gigantic starfish, either," added Tom with a smile, and
Ned nodded in agreement.
"We might try reversing the propellers," suggested the man from
the engine room, who had come in with the information about the
serpent weed. "The chief didn't like to try that. We saw the weed
from our observation windows and stopped as soon as we felt we
had fouled it."
"That was right," commended Tom. "Well, try reversing. It can't
do any harm, and it may make it easier for us to free the
propellers when we go out."
He went to the engine room himself to see that everything was
properly attended to. Slowly the motors were reversed, and only a
slight current was given them, as, with the resistance of the
tightly wound weed, too powerful a force might burn out the
insulation.
Slowly the starting lever was thrown over. There was a low
humming and whining as the current jumped from the batteries, and
a slight vibration of the craft.
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